The present invention relates to burial vaults and more particularly, to a burial vault that provides a stronger and environmentally safe vault.
Standard caskets must be enclosed within a vault for burial purposes for several reasons. One reason is a casket that cannot withstand the weight of fill dirt or other materials or items on the casket. As caskets can be very expensive, a further reason for enclosing them in a burial vault is to help prevent damage to the caskets which could result from fill dirt, stones or other materials placed over the casket during burial. Unfortunately, most traditional burial vaults are not sufficiently strong and are not portable, but instead are built into the ground around the casket and are made of concrete. Furthermore, such traditional vaults do not prevent the intrusion of moisture into the vault and casket, or the leaking of chemicals used in the embalming process or fluids or gases from decomposition into the ground water.
Thus, a need exists for a burial vault that is portable, strong enough to protect the casket which provides a seal that prevents damage to the inner contents of the vault and to the exterior environment. The prior patented art includes numerous burial vaults, some with ribs and interlocking seals, but none like the present invention. The most pertinent prior patented art is as follows:
______________________________________ Patent No. (U.S. unless stated otherwise) Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ CAN 722,356 Bugg Nov. 30, 1965 3,172,183 Bugg March 9, 1965 2,940,156 Cook June 14, 1960 4,228,952 Work Sept. 15, 1981 4,249,289 Work Feb. 10, 1981 3,868,799 Hayward March 4, 1975 3,208,186 Fulton, et al. Sept. 28, 1965 4,315,353 Sorensen Feb. 16, 1982 4,967,523 Turpin Nov. 6, 1990 ______________________________________
The two patents issued to Bugg teach a plastic vault with edges that are sealed in a rubber material to seal a vault, but it does not teach meshing "U"-shaped flanges. The Cook patent teaches a vault wherein the top fits into a trough in the bottom, but it still does not teach the use of mating "U"-shaped flanges. The patents issued to Work teach plastic vaults with an elastomeric seal between the top and bottom, but none use mating flanges for the seal like the present invention. The Hayward patent teaches another vault with an elastomeric seal to prevent gas and liquid leakage, but it is still different from the present invention. The Fulton patent teaches another plastic vault that also uses elastomeric sealing. The Sorensen patent teaches a sealing vault within a trough to collect fluid inside the vault. The Sorensen patent also teaches the use of reinforcing ribs, but not with the same design as the present invention. Finally, the Turpin patent teaches a vault with a sealable dome and base, but it still does not use "U"-shaped flanges.
None of the above patents provides a strong, environmentally safe burial vault using interconnecting and interlocking ribs and "U"-shaped sealing flanges as does the present invention.